Upper Des Plaines Target Of Flood-control Study

June 19, 1988|By Stevenson Swanson.

Federal, state and local officials will concentrate a new flood-control research project on the upper reaches of the Des Plaines River to try to prevent a repeat of last summer`s flooding in northwestern and western suburbs, which caused millions of dollars in property damage.

The study, which will be completed in February, is the first organized attempt to stop floodwaters from being passed from Lake County to points south in Cook County.

``This gives us a terrific opportunity to complete a body of work that will benefit all residents along the Des Plaines,`` said Aurelia Pucinski, Metropolitan Sanitary District commissioner and chairman of the district`s flood-control committee.

The commissioners voted to kick in $250,000 to pay for the study, which is being conducted by the Army Corps of Engineers. The Corps` share of the $1 million study is $500,000. The remaining $250,000 will come from the Illinois Division of Water Resources.

The research project will pinpoint areas along the upper Des Plaines south of the Wisconsin border that are prone to flooding or to high volumes of runoff water and will study the cost of flood-control projects that would prevent floodwaters from rapidly growing sections of Lake County from moving south.

District General Supt. Frank Dalton said that the rapid development of the county along Milwaukee Avenue, which parallels the river, reduces the water-retention capacity of the land.

Instead of sitting in open fields, the water rushes off pavement into the river and then south into Cook County.